Implicit Bias Testing Using Emotion AI

Why do we study Implicit Bias in marketing?

Researchers can’t rely solely on explicit surveys to predict behavior or be culturally sensitive. Automated behavioral science can provide the critical consumer emotion and cultural sensitivity metrics needed for success in today’s market. By uncovering the subconscious impact of a brand’s advertising, marketers can optimize their creative and messages to ensure the greatest business and social impact. Google’s U.S. Inclusive Marketing Study proves inclusive marketing benefits brands and audiences alike. According to Google, 69% of Black consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that recognizes and speaks to their ethnicity. The same study also found that 71% of LGBTQ+  consumers are more likely to interact with an online ad that authentically represents their sexual orientation.

When we understand our implicit biases and know how people truly feel and why, we can become more empathetic. At Sentient, providing marketing insights that increase empathy is a core part of our mission. Our Emotion AI platform measures Inclusivity in advertisements using implicit research techniques– analyzing moment-by-moment facial expressions of emotion by change in implicit associations with groups of people, and with brands. This data provides brands with the opportunity to evaluate the impact of their marketing communications and avoid perpetuating stereotypes of race, gender, class, ability, and age. 

Reinforce your understanding of the societal impact of implicit bias and the relevance of Implicit Association Testing by watching an inspiring Ted Talk on acknowledging and overcoming our biases. Within the TEDxBeaconStreet independent event, American author and inclusion strategist, Vernā Myers discusses unconscious bias. Myers first talks about her personal experience and then explains the implicit attitudes people hold towards out-groups through findings from Implicit Association Testing. The speaker encourages the audience to go searching for their own bias and to temporarily disassociate these automatic associations by using “disconfirming data that will prove that in fact your old stereotypes are wrong”. Myers ends the lecture by reminding people to have relationships with others who are different from us–increasing empathy and compassion for all.

You know, it’s the empathy and the compassion that comes out of having relationships with people who are different from you. Something really powerful and beautiful happens: you start to realize that they are you, that they are part of you, that they are you in your family, and then we cease to be bystanders and we become actors, we become advocates, and we become allies. – Vernā Myers

Learn how Implicit Association Testing is used to uncover racial bias.

Watch how Sentient’s Emotion AI Platform tests for Inclusivity in advertising.

To see how we’re using Patented Implicit Technology, watch Dr. Aaron Reid’s IIeX Behavior 2020 presentation, “Measures That Matter for This Moment”, below and learn how marketing communications are tested for Inclusivity. To experience how measuring Inclusivity could benefit your brand, sign up to demo our Emotion AI Platform.